Democracy The Cause For International Peace Or For...

Elisabeth McCallum McCallum 1 Political Science 12D Philip G. Roeder Democracy: The Cause for International Peace or for Global War? In just over 100 years, the world has seen two major global wars along with a cold war. While some argue that the cold war was actually a long period of peaceful relations rather than a period classified as wartime (Gaddis), it is still imperative to see the relationship between the leadership a nation is under, and its engagement in any of these past global wars. Under the explanations provided by several philosophers such as Schumpeter, Lake, and, democracies should be extremely less likely to go to war. If these theories were completely true, however, this would fail to explain the anomalies in this theory. Due to the high number of democracies that do, in fact, engage in global wars, there must also be another factor besides democracy that accounts for the likeliness of war. In addition, the Democratic regimes who do engage in war also have a greater tendency of winning, a phenomena that can be explained by the power of democracies. While the leadership style does have an effect on the likeliness of war, with democracies being extremely less likely, it appears that the presence of either a multipolar or a bipolar global system has a higher influence on a country’s chances for war. Although Democracies do tend to be more peaceful in general due to economic influences, the presence of a bipolar global system rather than aShow MoreRelatedNeo-Realism and Liberalism: Comparing These Two Different Frameworks Used in International Relations1226 Words   |  5 PagesIn order for countries to cohesively overcome international barriers, frameworks of ideal political standards must be established. 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